'Lovecraft Country': Season 1 Episode 1 "Sundown" Recap
There's no secret why HBO has been the best television network for the last 30 years. They are always putting out high-quality content for audiences weekly. Within the first five minutes of their new series, "Lovecraft Country," we know HBO’s found their next big hit from the minds of Misha Green, Jordan Peele, and J.J Abrams. This pilot, 'Sundown,' shows the potential for this show to carry the legacy of "The Sopranos" and "Game of Thrones" as the network's flagship series.
WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD
As the episode begins, we see Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors) fighting off enemies in the Korean War. Shown in black and white, we only see color appear when bombs and bullets go off. After leaving the trench, Atticus rises, and we see he's not only fighting Korean soldiers on the ground but aliens in the skies. One of the spaceships beams down a female alien, and Atticus embraces her. Aliens surround the two till an unexpected hero comes to save the day, Jackie Robinson. It's a campy yet beautiful way to start the show.
Before we see any more of this battle, we discover Atticus on a bus and realize it was all a dream. He's coming home on a bus ride to Chicago. Flash to the Windy City, where we're introduced to Atticus's uncle George (Courtney B. Vance) and his wife, Hippolyta (Aunjanue Ellis), lying in bed. They're going over George's next trip as a travel guild for African Americans in America, primarily the South. Before they get into a deep discussion, Atticus appears in their apartment, surprising them and their daughter Diana (Jada Harris). This is such a warm scene, but this is probably the happiest the Freeman family will be for a while.
After reconnecting with his family, Atticus goes downstairs to the bookstore/garage George owns. He asks George where his father is since he received an urgent letter from his father, Montrose (Michael Kenneth Williams), asking for Atticus's help. In the letter, Montrose mentions he's gone to find where their family's from, in a place called Lovecraft Country. Atticus says this destination is located in Ardham, Massachusetts, and leads to their family's secret legacy. George dismisses these fairy tale ideas from Atticus. Majors and Vance have great on-screen chemistry here, making it a joy to watch these two talented actors work opposite one another. Not satisfied with his uncle's conversation, Atticus investigates on his own and finds out Montrose hasn’t been seen in two weeks.
Meanwhile, as the day turns to night, the whole block where the Freeman's live is alive with music as Ruby Baptiste (Wunmi Mosaku) entertains the crowd. During her set, her half-sister Letitia "Leti" Lewis (Jurnee Smollett) shows up, and with much excitement from the crowd, she gets on stage and sings with Ruby. It's an electrifying scene, showcasing Smollett's beautiful voice along with the lively spirit of this community. As the sisters go off stage, Leti needs a place to stay, but Ruby only gives her two nights. Leti takes her offer, with no intention of staying that long.
When the festivities are over, we arrive back at the Freeman house, where George has looked into Atticus's father's claims. Being curious, he tells Atticus to join him on his travels to find his father. But Lovecraft is supposed to be near Devon's county, which, when they look on George's map, has a drawing of a clock with a grim reaper next to it. Atticus leaves for his father's apartment, and when he gets there, the phone rings. A mysterious female voice calling from South Korea is on the line and tells Atticus, "he went home, you shouldn't have."
Cut to the next morning, Atticus makes his way to his uncle's car, but finds outs the other passenger on this trip is Leti, who was true to her word in not staying long. Atticus and Leti knew each other from childhood and reconnect before the three of them head out of the road. Majors and Smollett's chemistry from the start of this scene is on point and carries consistently throughout the episode. We see a brief sequence of the trio driving across a divided America, with the elegant words of James Baldwin narrating. It's relevant and deeply profound as we hear the famous novelist words paint the picture we see on screen. This is also when we see 'Sundown' shines the most when all three of our main characters are together.
They finally stop in a small town called Simmonsville to have lunch. It's a town not on George's guild book, so they realize they aren't wanted when their lunch server calls the local posy to come and get rid of them. Leti hightails it out of the diner, gets behind the wheel of the car, with Atticus and George jumping into the back seat. A car chase ensues with gunfire coming from both vehicles. This scene is tense but also provides some comic levity with Smollett franticly control the wheel. As they see a split in the road, Atticus notices a silver car coming up. The silver car sandwiches itself between both parties leading the trio to escape. But just as they're driving away, Atticus notices the silver car forces the other vehicle to flip in midair without even touching it.
Arriving at Leti's brother's house outside of Devon, he tells them everything they need to know about Devon County and how they need to steer clear of Sheriff Eustace Hunt (Jamie Harris). As they look at the map of the area, they find out that Lovecraft could be anywhere within Devon, as there is no road to get there on the map. After a good night's sleep, they spend most of the day searching for the road but can't find it. As they are about to leave for the day, they are pulled over by none other than Sheriff Hunt. He explains to them they must leave immediately; otherwise, he will have no choice but to kill them due to the county's sundown laws. As they are trying to make it across the county line, Hunt is right on their heels. Majors carries this scene as we see Atticus behind the wheel, desperately trying to avoid going over the speed limit to safety. With tensions building, they barely get across the county border but are relieved only for a few seconds, as they find more cops with shotguns waiting for them on the other side.
The cops then take Atticus, Leti, and George out deep into the woods, looking to kill them. Escalated by this announcement, Hunt and his men pump their shotguns and aim to shoot them, but they hear something. It's within this moment the show turns towards the sci-fi elements it promised from the opening. Out of the ground come giant monsters start ripping the cops apart. Atticus, Leti, and George get up and start running deep into the woods. Now we are getting to the part of the episode where it goes down some serious "Evil Dead" territory. Atticus and Leti get separated from George and find an abandoned cabin to hide. But as they try to lock the door, Hunt and the remaining cop push their way inside. Hunt is missing an arm but isn't bleeding out for a reason we will find out soon enough.
A standoff occurs when George finds the cabin, but Hunt won't let him in. Atticus defies this and lets George in. As they discuss how to beat the creatures, George tells them he was able to shine a light on one of them when he escaped. The group figures out the monsters have to be vampires, (which is a pretty slick and interesting development) and the best way to kill them would be for someone to drive the car over to use the headlights. Hunt, using his gun, volunteers Leti to get the car, leaving Leti no choice but to do it. As she runs to get to the vehicle, Atticus and George witness Hunt transform into a vampire, also super cool, because of his missing arm and eats his fellow officer. As Hunt is about to attack the guys, Leti runs the car through the cabin and kills Hunt.
When the group walks out of the cabin, they hear the vampires coming towards them. They grab some flairs from George's truck and shoot them off around them. The image of the vampires closing in on them around the red light is creepy and dazzling at the same time. Within feet of eating our protagonist, a mysterious whistle sounds off, and the creatures vanish. When this happens, the group sees the sun coming up and heads out of the woods. As they exit, they cross a bridge and enter a clean area they've never seen before. This leads our heroes to believe they found Lovecraft Country with a mysterious manor in the distance. It's almost like a dream world, completely different than the reality they know. So when they reach the manor's front door, they notice the silver car from their chase in the driveway. They knock, only for a mysterious white man to answer, telling them they were expected and "welcome home" before the screen goes black.
With this ending, it caps off the best premiere HBO has had since "Game of Thrones" and a new must-watch series.